Friday, March 31, 2006

NSWCA Councilman Trent Parker seems to have changed his mind. The link to his post below under "Honest Trent" is resulting in a 404 (Page Not Found error). It was there this morning but Mr Parker's removed it saying, "I do admit that i shouldn't have posted that post, and have pulled it down in the time being, until i get updated on what was discussed in last nights meeting."

Where are the rest of the former national champions? Where are our top Fide-rated players? Why are they giving the national closed championships a miss? If aspirants to the national champion’s title are willing to give up a few days of their annual leave to compete, why is there less commitment from the former winners?

Thank God for honest men! And we thank, in particular, one Trent Parker. This NSWCA council member has just delivered a bombshell that is sure to rock the inner world of our state association.

Writing about the unjust motion (which has since been amended), proposed by the NSWCA, for the adoption of a nation-wide ban of state-banned players Trent says in his blog:

Now this rule is really only being brought into effect because of one individual - Matt Sweeney. I find Matt Sweeney a decent guy in person. Sure he made some unsavory comments when on online bulletin boards such as Chess Chat and his short lived Uber chess Jihad Bulletin Board and against the NSWCA and one or two of the council members. However i definitely think that the ban that he received was too harsh.

After July Matt Sweeney will be the only Banned player. Ilia Ilic's 2 year ban ends at the end of July. So the Majority of the time that the nation wide ban has been brought forward would be for is Matthew Sweeney. Otherwise if certain members of the NSWCA council wanted something like this proposal earlier, why didn't the NSWCA delegates to the ACF propose this when Ilic's ban first started? If the answer is that there was a proposal from another state and NSW just hopped on the bandwagon then why the urgency in bringing it forward?

We can only say that we wish Mr Parker the best of health and to watch his back.

In this earlier post, the following quoted words do not belong to ACF president Denis Jessop.

The ACF Council, at its meeting in January, unanimously passed a motion supporting the principle of reciprocal arrangements between states in relation to the discipline of members. The matter was referred to the ACF Constitutional Subcommittee for more detailed consideration, but in light of the unanimous support for the principle by Council and the fact that banned players are currently circumventing their bans, we believe there should be no further delay in implementing reciprocal arrangements.

I therefore move, on behalf of the NSWCA the following motion:

That effective 1st April 2006 players banned by their respective State Associations are not permitted to play in any ACF Grand Prix tournament and if another State Association, the tournament organiser or the tournament arbiter in the knowledge that a player is banned permits that player to play, then the tournament will not be ACF or FIDE rated and will not be counted towards Grand Prix points and, furthermore, the ACF Council at its discretion may take action against the offending State Association, tournament organiser or tournament arbiter.

[...]

To ensure that this motion, if carried, becomes effective by 1st April (and is therefore in force for coming tournaments such as the Doeberl Cup) we suggest that an urgent email vote be undertaken with a voting deadline of, say, next Monday 27 March. The decision can then be publicised via the subsequent ACF Newsletter.

Amiel, perhaps before accusing Denis Jessop of not being a "cool head" you should actually read what you are posting. You would then notice that all of the quoted text except for the final paragraph beginning "I am prepared to second the motion (if a seconder is needed) so as to enable a quick vote to be taken." is actually part of a message forwarded by the NSWCA delegate, and not Jessop's own words.

Peter Parr informs us, in his column last Monday, of IM Alex Wohl's excellent performance in the Bad Worishofen Open in Germany. The Australian's win against grandmaster Kveiny's in the sixth round was a beauty.

One round later, Wohl had to face grandmaster Vereslav Eingorn of the Ukraine, rated 2595. It was another exciting game which finished in a drawn Queen ending. Wohl lost his 8th game to Ikonnikov and the last game to Indian boy wonder, Parimarjan Negi.

Behaving more like the Myanmar military government, the NSWCA under the leadership of Bill Gletsos, is on a manhunt. The target? Matthew Sweeney. The only roadblock in front of them are some cool heads in the ACF. ACF president and ex-lawyer Denis Jessop is not one of those cooler heads. Courtesy of Canberra chess personality and Olympiad rep, Shaun Press, we take a peek into the secret machinations of Australia's national federation. Here is a portion of an email from Mr Jessop sent to his fellow ACF staffers.

The ACF Council, at its meeting in January, unanimously passed a motion supporting the principle of reciprocal arrangements between states in relation to the discipline of members. The matter was referred to the ACF Constitutional Subcommittee for more detailed consideration, but in light of the unanimous support for the principle by Council and the fact that banned players are currently circumventing their bans, we believe there should be no further delay in implementing reciprocal arrangements.

I therefore move, on behalf of the NSWCA the following motion:

That effective 1st April 2006 players banned by their respective State Associations are not permitted to play in any ACF Grand Prix tournament and if another State Association, the tournament organiser or the tournament arbiter in the knowledge that a player is banned permits that player to play, then the tournament will not be ACF or FIDE rated and will not be counted towards Grand Prix points and, furthermore, the ACF Council at its discretion may take action against the offending State Association, tournament organiser or tournament arbiter.

[...]

To ensure that this motion, if carried, becomes effective by 1st April (and is therefore in force for coming tournaments such as the Doeberl Cup) we suggest that an urgent email vote be undertaken with a voting deadline of, say, next Monday 27 March. The decision can then be publicised via the subsequent ACF Newsletter.

I am prepared to second the motion (if a seconder is needed) so as to enable a quick vote to be taken. Purely also to save time, I am circulating the motion instead of the usual procedure of Jey doing it, so could responses please be sent to me. It would be preferable if all respondents sent their replies "Reply All" though I note that most of you do that already.

Apart from the unjustness I mentioned in an earlier post, two things jump at me almost immediately. First the haste of this motion and, second, the specific mention of the Doeberl Cup. Finally, how about the stinking hypocrisy?

Mr Matthew Sweeney has indicated an intention to attend this year's Doeberl Cup. He is currently a banned player in New South Wales. The NSWCA doesn't like it, submits the above motion, and the ACF president nods obediently. But all this is hypocritical particularly on the part of the NSWCA. Here's why. The NSWCA constitution reads: "To encourage, promote, maintain and control the playing of Chess in the State of New South Wales". So, if they're going to ban anyone then those persons must be banned from all tournaments. Right? Wrong!

The NSWCA banned players in 2005 for their unacceptable behaviour in NSWCA events.

[...]

After the players were banned by the NSWCA the banned players continued to play in important events in NSWCA affiliated clubs eg Rooty Hill(directed by NSWCA Councillor and Life Member Cassettari),Campbelltown(directed by NSWCA Councillor Parker and on the Central Coast(directed by NSWCA Councillor Mal Murrell) - there may be others. All players banned by NSWCA can easily play at least 150 games per year in any NSWCA affiliated clubs during the period of their ban and the NSWCA will process all their games for rating and NSWCA President will calculate new ratings for each banned player.

[...]

Now the NSWCA President insists that banned players not be allowed to play in ACF Grand Prix events and penalties apply to clubs who accept their entries. However they can still play in NSW clubs where NSWCA Councillors are among the organisers.

"On March 28, unique chess match between teams of Oktyabrsky and Sverdlovsky city districts took place in Krasnoyarsk, in order to hold all-Russian record on simultaneous play of more than 500 players."

When I am in his store, I am always amazed at Peter Parr's chess business. It's just booming. Just looking at the large boxes of sets, books and all manner of things chessic that he's shipping to all parts of the country, I think, "My God, this man's doing well for himself!"

Actually, a bullish trend in the chess business sector appears to be a worldwide phenomenon. I'm not sure if Checkmate International is listed anywhere but definitely worth a look at.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

The problem with a long winning streak is that, sooner or later, a loss will come screaming from around the corner and hit you like a road train. For Michael Lostritto, this is exactly what happened. It's a fascinating story and we owe it to DG over at the Boylston CC blog.

Monday, March 27, 2006

It seems everywhere you look there's bickering between players and their respective federations. In Azerbaijan, current World Junior champ Shahriyar Mammadyarov has threated to quit the national team citing bias against certain players. Azeri Press Information Agency quoted him as saying:

We-most grandmasters are of the same opinion. We plan to quit the team objecting to this bias. If the federation does not correct its errors and does not end discrimination against the chess players, I will quit and will not represent the federation any longe.

Calmly, he makes his move, 67...Rb8. As the opponent, the awesome George Xie, sat there shaking his head, Raymond Song gave away a satisfied smile. Raymond knew it was all over. And so did the rest of us. The little kid had taken out another master scalp. What a game! What a struggle!

For a while the finish seemed certain. Any moment now, George Xie will offer a draw. His determined prodding was going nowhere. With just a lonesome Queen, there was no way in to Ray's fortresses - one on both flanks of the board. Finally, the 3-IM norm holder decides to race his own King up along the h-file to join the attack. Waiting for him was a diabolical ambush!

After last week's loss, WIM Laura Moylan (who has been promoted to board 2 in the Olympiad team after Anastasia Sorokina's withdrawal) gets her campaign back in order by defeating New South Wales champ Andrew Bird. Her opponents should watch out. Laura seems to have this uncanny ability to create a passed d-pawn. She did the same against Raymond Song earlier in the tournament and came very close to winning. This time, the d-pawn passer proved far too troublesome for black.

It is very hard sometimes to attend to my own problems while also keeping on eye on all the other mini battles around me. Just as I've made my move, I can't wait to get up again and observe the other games. You know, I get this itch and I can't control it. Sooner or later, something will have to give; I either want to play chess, or just write about it. Today, however, I got lucky. My opponent seemed a little unfamiliar with the situation and walked straight into an attack.

1. e4 is not my first choice. But it does make an appearance when I know that the opposition will respond only in a certain way. My opponent, Aram Sandalciyan, nearly always relies on the Sicilian. No fancy preparation here. Just sit back, relax and wait.

Sunday, March 26, 2006

International master Peter Froehlich won the 2006 Gold Coast Active Championship today on a score of 6.5/7 points. The German IM conceded only a single draw in the seventh round to WIM Arianne Caoili. Arianne secured second place overall on countback ahead of Jonas Muller.

The Philippines national airline is represented by the three letter acronym, PAL. Those who haven't flown PAL may think that the 3 letters stand for "Philippine Airlines". But to Filipinos, they stand for "Plane Always Late". The constant lateness pretty much represents the character of the Filipino - he likes to take his time, dragging his butt along until the eleventh hour.

Well, we're not quite at the eleventh hour but just a couple of months from the Olympiad, RP still does not have a full Olympiad outfit. As I write, there are elimination tournaments across the archipelago to determine the composition of RP's team. While all these are happening, a minor controversy is about to ignite.

The local federation, National Chess Federation of the Philippines, will seed the country's top 3 grandmasters into the national side. And Mark Paragua is not too happy.

Saturday, March 25, 2006

This one's a Saturday Special, from last Sunday's round 5 of the City of Sydney. Robert Hvistendahl could not resist convincing me to publish it. "It's a mad game", he said. Playing the black side, uni student Nick Chernih gets himself in trouble early against Ivan Zirdum. Just as when Ivan was getting ready to deliver the finishing blows, Nick launches a counter-attack. Within a couple of moves, Ivan was suddenly losing.

Friday, March 24, 2006

A lot of people are blogging these days. But, sad to say, there are still a very few Aussie chess fans who do. No matter, perhaps my fellow Australians are happy to read. For you folks out there, here's a couple I've just found. One for our Chinese-reading friends, Xie Jun's blog, and the frequently updated Ben Finegold blog.

If you want to trawl around looking for potential faves, I suggest the Kenilworthian's page or just take a look at Boylston's right-hand side bar.

Have a good weekend folks! Hopefully, those accident-prone ACF officials won't keep me busy. I've got family over from RP and I'm playing the tourist guide.

What in the world is wrong with Australian Chess Federation officials? It seems to me that they have either careless tongues or slippery fingers. In his President's Report earlier this year, the ACF head, Dennis Jessop, showed utter contempt for Aussie chess fans who inhabit the country's most popular chess forum by writing:

The most public matter has been the aftermath of the Australian Open and Junior Championships 2004/2005 held at Mt Buller, which has still to be fully dealt with. A lot of criticism has been made, especially on the Chess Chat Forum, of George Howard as a result of the events. Some of this has been justified but much of it, like much else that appears on that Forum, has been uninformed and irresponsible.

I happen to be a critic of the Mt Buller tournament and, no doubt, Mr Jessop had somone like yours truly in mind. But hey, who's laughing now Mr Jessop?

And a couple of days ago, ACF Selections Coordinator, Dr Kevin Bonham, was worthy of our praise for his wise decision to request an escape clause in what I think is an absolutely unjust piece of motion. Yet, on the matter pertaining to Mr Matthew Sweeney, who has been banned by his local state association for a period of 18 months, Dr Bonham said this:

The 18-month ban was warranted given that Matthew had not apologised at that stage. He still hasn't. Indeed a 5-year or even 10-year ban would have been legitimate in my view if the NSWCA had such power.

Yes, he said (and let me repeat so you won't miss it), "a 5-year or even 10-year ban".

We truly respect these officials for the time they volunteer to our game. But those with Ferdinand Marcos tendencies ought to be rooted out like a cancerous tooth. These guys are dangerous.

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

And speaking of bannings, if there's a group worthy of national shut-outs, it's chess hooligans. Yes, we've all heard of the footballing kind, but I had no idea they also exist in chess. They're out there. And here's proof.

It's one of those days when, out of nowhere, the entire chess community gets hit with a bombshell. And what a loud bang it was when Canberra chess organiser and Olympiad representative, Shaun Press, let us all in on a so secret plan.

Currently before the Australian Chess Federation is the following motion:

That effective 1st April 2006 players banned by their respective State Associations are not permitted to play in any ACF Grand Prix tournament and if another State Association, the tournament organiser or the tournament arbiter in the knowledge that a player is banned permits that player to play, then the tournament will not be ACF or FIDE rated and will not be counted towards Grand Prix points and, furthermore, the ACF Council at its discretion may take action against the offending State Association, tournament organiser or tournament arbiter.

Based on informal poll on an internet chess forum, the motion and its ramifications are unpopular. In terms of unpopularity, it is probably akin to the French CEP. And this is understandable. As it is, the motion is manifestly unjust.

I do not disagree that some chess players may, indeed, deserve a national ban. Somebody who commits physical assault, or threatens such, during a tournament may be one example. These offenders, in my view, deserve nothing less than the ire of the entire Australian chess community.

The problem with this motion, in its present form, is that it ignores degrees or types of offences. Take the much celebrated case of one Mr Matthew Sweeney. Mr Sweeney is presently locked out of all NSWCA events. Actually, at this moment, no one can say for certain exactly why he was banned. The most common understanding seems to be that the NSWCA were none too impressed with Mr Sweeney's pronouncements on his internet site. In other words, his banning was basically due to a squabble between himself and the state association - largely an internal matter. If the above motion, before the ACF, were to pass as it is, then poor Mr Sweeney would also be persona non grata at all tournaments Australia-wide. And herein lies the problem. Such a national banning would be clearly unfair and improper insofar as Mr Sweeney's case is concerned.

Let's be clear. Mr Sweeney assaulted no one. In fact, he is a very popular figure amongst numerous chess players. He is a gentleman and a scholar (literally). Why in the world should he also suffer from such a stupid rule as "your banned in this state, therefore you're banned in this other state, period"?

Thankfully, there is a voice of reason within the ACF. Selections coordinator Dr Kevin Bonham has requested that the following escape clause be added: "except where the ACF Council decides otherwise". This is apparently to avoid further banning someone, like Mr Sweeney for instance, who may have been "unjustly, excessively or invalidly banned by their state association". Still, however, we have more questions. We want to know, in particular, the specific terms of reference that the ACF can consider when someone is placed before them for national banning.

We wish cooler and wiser heads within the ACF will ultimately prevail. My dear readers, this is one of those situations when I might again pick up my rosary beads and pray a thousand Hail Mary's so that sanity may win.

This is what we like to see and this is what Philippines chess badly needs. Just days after becoming president of the Philippines' local federation, congressman Pichay has launched a grassroots development program for children.

Monday, March 20, 2006

Among Australia's young talents, Raymond Song can be rightly considered the uber junior. As if we all need reminding of that equal first finish in the World U10 at the World Youth Championships in Greece. Since then, his strength has increased markedly.

Last Sunday, however, he got lucky. Robert Hvistendahl played a fantastic Black side of the Sicilian as if like a GM possessed. But, at the most crucial moment, he misplayed his position, lost a piece and, to top it all off, came within two moves of being mated. There was no choice but to resign.

On the other hand, WIM Laura Moylan had a terrible time on Sunday. She was ill and came close to forfeiting her game. But our heroine opted to play reasoning that she didn't want to lose two points to George Xie. This is because she may yet have been repaired with Xie at a later round.

During her game, and between moves, Laura was seen rolling around on a couch. She was clearly sick and really had no business crossing swords with a powerhouse.

Exactly as I'd expected, I had a terrible time against my opponent, Tomek Rej. But you know, I'm going to make an excuse. On Saturday, I spent the better part of the afternoon at a modified motor vehicles autoshow. I love cars. Life is nothing without them. Not! I lie, of course. I was there for this. Bad idea. My mind was never on the job.

City of Sydney 2006Rej, TomekRosario, AmielD06

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d5? The first mistake, hence the '?'. For the past two days I'd set my mind on the Budapest Faj. I noticed that Rej doesn't seem to handle complexity very well, from a time management perspective. And so I looked for a system that could be new to him and which was also in keeping with my temperament. However, at the board I suddenly decided to play d7-d5. This shift changed my own psychological mindset from one of being prepared to the one being surprised. 3. cxd5 This move just made it worse! Now, I had to think. Lesson learnt: stick to your plan! 3...Nxd5 4. Nf3 c6 5. e4 Nf6 6. Nc3 e6 7. Bg5 Qa5?! Bugger it, I thought. Let's have fun. 8. Bd3 Nbd7 9. O-O h6 10. Bd2 Qd8 11. Qe2 Be7 12. Rfe1 g5? 13. d5 Nc5 14. Bc4 b5 15. b4 bxc4 16. bxc5 cxd5 17. exd5 Bxc5 18. Qxc4 Qb6? 19. Be3? (I thought the following was stronger. 19. Na4! Bxf2+ 20. Kf1! Ba6 21. Nxb6 Bxc4+ 22. Kxf2 axb6 23. Bc3 and White is clearly better.) 19... Bxe3 20. Rxe3 O-O 21. Rb1 exd5?? 22. Rxb6 Oops! 1-0

Something is fishy in the northern state of Queensland. Yesterday afternoon, a Chess Association of Queensland insider, came out swinging on Australia's liveliest chess bulletin board. (The poster was using the handle, "Arrogant-One").

He opened: "As many people have become aware, the CAQ is in a state of disarray."

Actually, the insider's salvo began with a verbatim copy of the CAQ president's resignation letter. But that little potato turned out to be so hot that the forum moderators immediatelly went into overdrive. The post disappeared within minutes.

Now I've never liked potato. It's a boring food. But this one potato I like. For that seems to have been the beginning of CAQ's recent problems.

According to our inside man, the CAQ president, Howard Duggan, suddenly retracted his resignation. The VP was reportedly incensed! He was there ready to take over but that chance now disappeared.

From our inside informant:

[T, annoyed by the backflip, then criticised Howard Duggan and Bill Powell (a new CAQ Council member who was not elected at last year's AGM but rather was elected by Council itself in its first meeting of 2006) for causing strife and discord relating to the foolishness of [a retracted] resignation.

Terse emails were exchanged by all CAQ Council members, and ultimately Howard Duggan (leader of the Trifecta voting block of Ian Murray, Gail Young, and himself) initiated a motion of non confidence in the Vice President!

This motion passed with the support of Bill Powell by a margin of 4 votes for (the Trifecta and Powell) 3 votes against, and one abstaining.

The matter will now have to be dealt with at a Special General Meeting, expected on 17 April 2006.

Alarmed by this blatant airing of their dirty laundry, CAQ Secretary, Ian Murray, chipped in with: "CAQ Council is using due process under its constitution to remove the cause of the current discord (viz the VP). The constitution provides opportunity for all parties to be heard, but that forum is not the Bulletin Board - no debate will be entered into here." Presumably, that will be Mr Murray's one and only post.

Who would have thought that the normally quiet Queenslanders could be so dramatic? As if all this wasn't enough, Queensland chess player Dion Sampson , who has certain ambitions himself, joined in:

It is my unfortunate duty to give the real objective report on this matter.... However, I shall refrain if I am contacted by the President or Secretary within the next 7 days and the motion to impeach the Vice-President of the Council is rescinded.

Saturday, March 18, 2006

Current Victorian Under 14 champion, James Morris was the honourable guest today at the Commonwealth Games village in Melbourne. He was there to play a simul against all comers, mainly the athletes.

James, seen here playing against a Canadian athlete

Amidst tight security, the simul was played in a relaxed atmosphere. Accompanied by mom, Rowena Moyle, James thoroughly enjoyed himself. The young man quickly made friends with the Canadian hockey team as well as swimmers from Mauritius. The Canadians apparently kept coming back out for more.

I met James early this year and he is a very friendly young chap. Maybe that explains why the volunteer helpers gave so much support and even provided James with a hat as a memento!

Says Rowena, "I was very proud ..not only that James was asked but that he was a good ambassador for Australia, Melbourne and Australian Chess."

The event was organised by Gary Wastell and Chess Victoria with the specific aim of promoting the Australian Olympiad Team. Unfortunately, there was no media present to cover the event. And Rowena informs us that they were not allowed to mention the Olympiad due to Commonwealth Games regulations.

Here is another picture of James playing aginst Chess Victoria head, Gary Wastell.

There will be more chess players visiting the village. They will be there next Wednesday and the following Saturday.

Grandmaster Daryl Johansen, selected for board 3 duties for the upcoming Olympiad in Torino, has withdrawn from the team. This sad news was announced by Dr. Kevin Bonham, ACF Selections Coordinator, this evening. GM Johansen cited "work commitments" as the main reason for his decision.

While not altogether surprising, this turn of events does highlight the one problem our top class players must countenance when their nation calls upon them for representative duties. That is, the nation delivers no financial support. The local federation conducts an appeal but funds collected through that procedure are hardly ever adequate. It is a very bad situation.

Melbourne coach Nicholas Speck, who played very well in Gibraltar recently, is now set to replace Johansen. All that is required now is for this 3-IM norm holder to indicate his acceptance. I do hope he does and all the best to him.

Our columnist hero, Bobby Ang, has a good wife. She rates a mention in his book, Inside Philippine Chess and also in this column recently. Cathy Rogers is another good wife. We can say the same of Irina Berezina - married to IM Vladimir Feldman. There are many others, of course, and they are all good because they permit their husbands a second love affair. Chess.

Linda Steiner-Mander is another such good wife. Out of love and devotion, Linda has taken out a most unusual personal ad on behalf of her husband. She is looking for his second playmate. No, not for a bit of, you know, kikiriki on the side - but, to play chess.

Says Linda, ""The idea is to surprise him on his birthday so he can resume one of his hobbies. ... We don't have a chess club here anywhere that I know of".

Friday, March 17, 2006

We all know that America is the land of opportunities. A place of ample rewards. Well, apparently, even if you score zero, zip, nada - they still give you a big fat paycheck. Just take a look at the prize list for the recently concluded US Championships. Kelly Cottrell-Finegold gets $2000 for, yep, zero points! That's more money than for the first placing at a decent Australian weekend tournament!

America, here I come!

By the way, Batchimeg Tuvshintugs, who faced 7 grandmaster opponents ended on 3.5 points and also went home with $2000.

The Australian Chess Federation has now officialy given its support to Bessel Kok's ticket for the next FIDE elections. I must say, we are fully supportive of this decision and congrats to ACF head, Dennis Jessop, and his crew for this very courageous decision.

Australia's support is now posted on the Right Move site here. And if you don't know much about Australia, there is some introductory information there too.

As expected, congressman Prospero "Butch" Pichay was elected as the new president of the National Chess Federation of the Phlippines (NCFP). The vote was unanimous.

This is a big challenge for me and for the rest of the board. But we have to act quickly because chess in this country has stagnated in the past few years. We have to develop our players by giving them more tournaments and sending them abroad for training and exposure.

Pichay's planned program of improvements for RP chess will include the hosting of two tournaments. The first will be called the "Rep. Prospero 'Butch' Pichay Presidential Invitational Cup" and the other one will be a Philippine International FIDE-rated Open.

Said the new president, "What I want is that we can regain our supremacy in Asia". Good luck sir!

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

M. Whyte pines for errors. System errors. He fears of a time when chess and music are solved by machines, computers.

But hang on a second here: if the computer is now smart enough to beat us at chess, then what is the point in us playing the game anymore? I mean, that’s it; it’s been solved. Yes, we can organise playoffs between IBM’s Deep Blue III and Sun Microsystems’ Goliath IV, or whatever names they give these beasts, but it’s still going to be a computer that wins. And isn’t that sad? No more of us puny humans battling it out over such an innocent pastime? In the 1978 world final between Karpov and Korchnoi they had to place a wooden barrier under the table between the two players to stop them kicking each other. Isn’t that great? That two Grandmasters who had worked so hard and achieved so much were nonetheless reduced to taking swipes at each other under a desk! But that’s all gone now. Now we’re just going to have a cold printout of the moves between two machines and there is a good chance the game itself will be forgotten to history.

Grandmaster Ian Rogers finished on a high note in the Reykjavik Open with a victory over local player GM Throstur Thorhallsson. Rogers' only setback in the event was a loss to GM Ahmed Adly of Egypt. Adly defeated the superstar Magnus Carlsen in the ninth round to push himself up to equal first place on 7 points with four other players.

The other Australian in the event, FM Manuel Weeks, managed only 4 points out of 9. I guess his reporting duties for the official site must have diverted his energies.

Monday, March 13, 2006

Round 4 of the City of Sydney yesterday was possibly the most exciting one so far. The action on the top 3 boards, especially, had me, at least, nearly pissing in my pants. Moylan and Song, on first board, re-debated an opening they played earlier this year and it was Moylan who was first to vary. That little argument ended peacefully but Song may still had chances.

On board 2, Halpin's GP Attack against Bird looked to be crushing. But by the time I left for the evening, Bird appeared to have found enough to defend. We don't have the final scoresheets, sadly, to know exactly what happened. I hope both players can immediately relay us their game as it must be published.

Whereas Song - Bolens on the third board was a nice little miniature, 1-0 to Angela. Bolens arrived some 45 minutes late and immediately set about sharpening the situation. Unfortunately for him, the time dificit plus complications led to too much pressure. He cracked and lost on time.

Here, Bolens had only about 7 minutes remaining, while Angela had some 30 minutes. She is winning, of course, but how to continue? She sat there thinking away. Bolens now began his usual ritual. He laughs quietly, clasping his hands with glee, as if to say, "I've got this game stitched up". It's quite disconcerting. But the young woman remained calm. 19. Bc4 Qxf5 20. O-O Rd8 21. b4 Ne4 22. Be6 time 1-0

In my earlier post about Reykjavik and the game Ziska - Timman (1-0), I was unsure if the result was actually correct since the Dutch legend was actually winning the final position. We now have some clarification from the official site's report from round 1, by Australian FM Manuel Weeks.

The upset of the round went to Helgi Dam Ziska from the Faroe Islands who defeated Dutch legend Jan Timman. In a sharp Sicilian Keres attack Ziska introduced the novelty 12.Qd3 and soon afterwards had a decisive advantage. On move 20 there is more then one way to win and Timman had probably convinced himself of his impending fate but Ziska blundered with 20.Nxf7??. If he realized his blunder then he did not show it as Timman extended his hand in resignation believing it to be unstoppable mate overlooking a defence. The Dutchman will now will go down in Tim Krabbe’s records as another person who unfortunately resigned in a winning position.

And here are some responses on the Salon site to their article on Nakamura.

Sunday, March 12, 2006

It's almost hard to believe but it is nearly that time of year again when Australia's premiere weekend tournament takes place in Canberra. Our international readers are hereby informed that Canberra is actually Australia's national capital - not Sydney!

Now in its 44th edition, the Doeberl Cup is the Aussie chessers annual haj. To play in the Doeberl is "the done thing". One may never play in any other tournament throughout the year, for whatever reason, but the 4 days of chess in the Australian capital, over the Easter long weekend, is hard to miss. You've just got to be there.

Of course, for some a yearly trip is not so feasible.. What with our tyrrany of distance, it's nearly as expensive to fly internally (from as far as Western Australia, say) as flying on an overseas holiday! But at least the occassional visit will do.

Over the years the event has played host to some famous names. In 1997, for example, GM Simen Agdestein lost his first round game to local player, Brett Tindall (who has since become a Fide Master). Shaun Press, organiser and arbiter of the event, called that game, "the biggest Doeberl Cup upset in a number of years".

On some rare occassions, chess finds itself in the mainstream media and, six years ago, Doeberl struck the headlines for all the wrong reasons. The news was so big, it reverberated right around the world! Try googling "Doeberl Cup" and "punch up". I think even our most attentive international readers will surely remember.

While Doeberl has enjoyed loyal patronage, with some 200+ players attending each edition in the last few years, the event's organising committee face a constant problem: the financial one. To maintain the Cup's high prize levels it is essential that patronage to this event is maintained or, preferably, increased. This cannot be achieved when the likes of Bill Powell, Chess Association of Queensland PR Man write such media releases as this in promoting their own Easter tournament:

Can you trust the weather in Canberra? The answer is no as it can be very cold or too hot. Brisbane is such a great place with great weather. The people are nice too.

READ: Canberra has lousy weather and the people are nasty.

Well of course this is ridiculous. I've been to Canberra several times and the weather is always perfect at Easter time. A touch nippy, perhaps, but the sun is always out. As for the people, Canberrans are very nice and attentive. After all, this is a town full of public servants. Now, I must admit - I did walk into Brisbane Hooters once (during this year's Aussie Chess Championships) and that's always hard to beat!

Bill also added:

As you poor guys put up with all that fast pace in Sydney, you deserve a break, so why not come to Brisbane and play Chess over Easter in The Qld Open and have a great relaxing time[?]

What makes him think that Canberra isn't relaxing? In fact, some may say, too relaxing! How else is one to explain that more than any other group of Australians, Canberrans perfected the art of al-fresco dining? A short two-minute walk from the venue is the Manuka shopping strip. There you'll see chess players, perving and beeing seen among the locals, sitting outside under the sun, whiling away their free time between rounds. Mr Powell, that is relaxing! No one but a metrosexual Sydneysider like me can tell you this.

So - to close, then, and in the spirit of Tourism Australia's latest campaign, we can very well ask you dear readers, "Where the bloody hell will you be this Easter?" I have an idea.

Saturday, March 11, 2006

As the defending US Champion, GM Hikaru Nakamura didn't exactly get off to the best of starts. After 3 rounds in San Diego, he was on the unbelievable score of .5/3. However, like that other remarkable champion, Veselin Topalov, this young American is pulling off a miraculous comeback. Going into round 9, Nakamura is now on 5.5 points.

In this long piece by Salon, Nakamura expresses some frustration at being compared to the great Bobby Fischer. "It's nice to hear people say that," Nakamura is quoted as saying, "but it gets annoying. I'm not Bobby Fischer."

David Kushner writes:

But don't call him a geek. While chess gets written off as nerd play, Nakamura represents a brash new generation of champs reared on video games, hip-hop and the Internet. Known for his speed and aggression, he has been dubbed "the world's most impolite player" -- fighting words in one of the last sports that still prizes modesty and grace. While other players discuss the art and beauty of chess, Nakamura talks like a street fighter. After getting skipped over one year for the chess Olympiad team, he crushed a rival player and called it "payback." In one notorious interview, he cockily anointed himself the best player in America and deemed his peers conniving foreigners. "There aren't really any 'American' grandmasters that are higher rated than me," he said. "That's actually why I still work alone. It's very hard to trust anybody."

By the way, speaking of the US Championships, the Americans are certainly doing something right in terms of coverage. The Champblog is proving to be a wonderful read. The entries are entertaining and quite insightful. Just take a look at Serper's entry on his encounter against the world famous Emory Tate. Classic!

Congressman Prospero "Butch" Pichay, an avid financial supporter of Philippines chess, is expected to be the next head of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP). The elections are slated for later this afternoon at 1PM Manila time.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, the congressman revealed some of his ideas on improving Philippines chess. For example, he wants to motivate more locals to play and improve their chess by holding a "Philippine International Open Chess Championships".

And lamenting the problem of the seemingly constant bickering among RP chess officials, Pichay was quoted by the Inquirer as saying, "Chess is like showbiz, full of controversy. That's why the first thing to do is to unite everyone."

Friday, March 10, 2006

Two Aussies are playing in the Reykjavik Open, GM Ian Rogers and his Olympiad captain, FM Manuel Weeks. After 3 rounds, Rogers is on 2 points; Weeks is on 1, losing his first round game to Magnus Carlsen and then drawing his next two games.

Legend Jan Timman resigns after 20. Nxf7. Indeed the tournament site has the result recorded as 1-0. But after 20...Bxa3, Black is OK, if not better! Maybe our super GM readers can enlighten us on what's happening here. Well, OK, maybe Timman lost on time.

GM Mark Paragua is the 2006 La Union Open winner. In the first of a 2-game final, Paragua and IM Ronald Dableo split the point peacefully. The grandmaster then followed-up with a with a victory in the second game, thus taking out the P80,000 first prize.

But surely - if there was a "player of the tournament" award, then it must go to Richard Bitoon. Earlier in the quarterfinals, he handed out a 2-0 shut out to Eugene Torre. And yesterday, the international master repeated the feat by downing RP's second highest rated player, GM Antonio. Bitoon goes home with the 3rd spot prize of P30,000.

Thursday, March 09, 2006

FM Manuel Weeks has been reappointed as captain of the Australian Men's Olympiad team. Weeks has served in this role for some time now and appears to be the clear favourite of the established Olympiad players. (Under the current Australian system, Olympiad players have a big say in who gets to be their captain). Good luck to Manuel and to their Olympiad campaign.

We should add that our brave captain is currently playing in the Reykjavik Open, in Iceland. Two days ago he faced off against the Prince of Chess, GM Magnus Carlsen.

Grandmaster Paragua and IM Ronald Dableo will contest the finals of the La Union Open currently running in the Philippines. RP's latest grandmaster, Paragua, defeated defending champion and fellow GM, Antonio. While Dableo overcame Richard Bitoon to move into the final phase.

Earlier in the tournament, IM Richard Bitoon scored what was perhaps the event's most stunning upset by blanking out legend GM Eugene Torre, 2-0, in their quarterfinal match-up. Bitoon is from the province of Cebu, where yours truly spent much of his childhood.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

In yet another important milestone for The Closet Grandmaster, the latest issue of the Australian Chess Magazine features no less than 4 photos taken by yours truly. All four pictures are on the cover no less.

The players on the cover, from top left in clockwise order, are: Rogers, Chandler, Ftacnik and Smerdon. The Chandler photo was taken in Queenstown. The other 3 were from the Australian Champs in Brisbane.

The outgoing head of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines has assured clean proceedings for the upcoming elections on Satuday. Go Teng Kok, the current president, was quoted: ""I have made sure that the elections will be in order and according to the NCFP constitution and by-laws. We will even have an observer from the Philippine Olympic Committee at the elections".

The controversial Sammy Estimo, secretary-general of the NCFP, will not preside over the elections, Go also revealed.

Aussie chess fans will recall that incident at the Doeberl Cup, some years ago, which made headlines right around the world. Some journos made it seem unbelievable that a supposedly "sedate" game could turn quite violent. Well, at least that incident didn't involve an axe!

Monday, March 06, 2006

I damn near had a disaster yesterday. On the way to the venue, while waiting at the traffic light, a couple of perfectly pressed mormons came my direction and asked, "Have you spoken to missionaries before?"

Normally, I'd say, "Go get a real job you bastards".

But my mind was fixed on my game against Ben Ingram that I just sort of grunted, "yeah, I have" - then proceeded to cross the road. In my haste to avoid talking to those two I failed to notice an approaching car. Oops, a quick jog and I just made it.

And a second near-disaster threatened to happen. Walking past Macquatie Hotel, I saw the grand final between Sydney FC and the Mariners flickering on the TV screens. With a live jazz band playing plus the pub's own brew on tap, it was hard to resist. I was reminded of why I gave up weekend chess!

After a quick check of scores, 0-0 at the 57th minute mark, I pressed on. And so, we come to round 3.

If one could say something good about the disappointingly low attendance of this year's event, it must be that the tournament has a somewhat more friendly character. It's just a bunch of guys having a few good games of chess. Players seem less concerned about the competition. Pat Halpin happily showed off his lost effort, against Raymond Song, to Aram Sandalciyan before the two got down to a slugfest. And Leo Soto forgot himself for a moment and began to chat to me in Spanish! "Listen Leo", I tell him, "the only thing Spanish about me is my surname!"

(Actually, I am fantasising of a Spanish wife. I hear they are excellent lovers and very good cooks!)

Still, there were some real business to be done and the top board match-up between Bird and Xie was the one to watch. Xie, who needs 26 FIDE points to reach the magic 2400 and that IM title, was the first to vary with 16...Bb5. My database only has 2 other previous tries: 16...Bf6? and 16...Bc6, both of which, in my opinion, are worse.

The round's upset award must surely go to Anthony Pickering. He bravely essayed the Benko Gambit against the highly rated Tomek Rej (2264). Anthony's play sparkled with attack and 17...Nxf4!! was an absolute beauty. I can just imagine his thinking, "You take my Rook, I kill your King!"

Choosing an opening that leads to complex tactics was particularly smart since Tomek can usually spend large amounts of time for a move. By the time I watched the last few moments of this encounter, Tomek was already down to less than a minute. A piece down, and checkmate imminent, Tomek resigned.

And in this next game, Johny Bolens bangs out 1. a4 and manages only to confuse himself. Maybe it was because he turned up some 50 minutes late for this game. But let's not take anything away from Laura Moylan. Her play was smooth and very nice.

Finally, I score my first half point in this tournament against Ben Ingram. A tough game for both of us, I think. I had not bothered to check out my opponent's repertoire before this round because he has few games in the database! So I thought, "bugger it, let's just play chess". But Ben reeled out a Slav - one of my faves, so I was quite comfy in the opening. As usual, it was in the midgame that I struggled. I simply could not see a clear path. Maybe some dear fans have some suggestions.

Sunday, March 05, 2006

We have an update on the bids for the 2010 Olympiad. According to IM Jovan Petronic, reports in Serbia & Montenegro media indicate that Estonia may not be a genuine candidate.

In the local Serbia & Montenegro media, I read yesterday that Estonia is not a candidate for the Olympiad 2010, and that this nomination is an error!? Still no confirmation on the official FIDE website, though.

Aah, that would be a real pity. Oh well, I guess my bet now goes to S&M.

Melbourne chess personality David Beaumont claims of rumours that grandmaster Daryl Johansen will not be travelling to Torino, Italy for the upcoming Olympiad due to commence in May. If true, this is surely going to be a major dent in Australia's campaign this year. But such a turn of events could also be a blessing in disguise for Nick Speck (a 3-IM norm holder) and who was actually my choice over Johansen.

After some initial signs of uncertainty, the Australian women's side now appears set. Leading the team will be Irina Berezina-Feldman - followed, in board order, by Anastasia Sorokina, Laura Moylan and Arianne Caoili.

5. Serbia and Montenegro Chess Federation is proposing to organize the event in Budva, from 22 October to 5 November 2010.

6. Argentinean Chess Federation is proposing to organize the event in city of San Luis, from 15 October to 15 November 2010.

I am placing my bets in advance and hope that Estonia will win it! Last week, I read a travel review of this country and it looks to be a very nice place to visit. Although, I should say, Serbia and Montenegro would also be very nice. I might even get a free lodging with my new best friend, Goran!

Susan Polgar asks, "Can female players be as good in chess as male players?" Answer: yes, but here's the follow-up, "how come very few female players can compete on the same level as their male counterpart?"

Polgar discusses some possible reasons, including "Physiological and Physical differences". When she writes, "As they get older, girls tend to develop faster in many ways", she probably has in mind the very obvious. Love humps! For the life of me, I can't think of why these should be problematic. Hec, in many ways love humps are apparently an advantage. Who can forget this celebrated case from South Australia?

What Polgar doesn't mention is menstruation. In Chess Bitch, the author, Jennifer Shahade, lambasted Polgar for giving menstruation as an excuse for poor play and even as a deciding factor in the choice of opening! Of course, such an idea is quite ridiculous, so maybe Polgar has learnt her lesson.

All of us have some take on the lessons we've learnt from chess. I'd like to think that mine is patience (i.e. having more of it), although sometimes this is a little hard and my game last Sunday was an ugly example.

For Richard G. Petty MD, one important lesson is this:

Constantly ask questions: Why is this happening? Is there a pattern here? What does the other person intend? How can I fashion a response that fits and will move things in the direction that I want and is congruent with my overall plan of life? What are the rules here? Can I break the rules? This does not mean cheating, it means being sure that you are not applying rules mechanically, without checking to make sure that they apply in your particular situation.